


This Isn't What They Meant By Puppy Love

by rivlee



Series: Live Fast, Die Old [7]
Category: Spartacus Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-19
Updated: 2012-10-19
Packaged: 2017-11-16 15:32:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rivlee/pseuds/rivlee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short, fluffy, domestic ficlet featuring Auctus, Duro and Moose. Follows <i>Life, The Universe, and Dog Biscuits</i> and <i>How Lovely You Are</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Isn't What They Meant By Puppy Love

Duro woke to the familiar whirring of the fan and a warm feeling at his back. He started to move, wanting to get closer, when Auctus’ voice stopped him.

“Don’t move,” he ordered.

Duro rubbed his face into the pillow and took a moment to gather his thoughts. His back was warm, but not all of it, and there was an extra weight resting right above his ass. The snuffles and whining could only mean one thing.

“Moose,” he chided. 

He’d been trying, desperately, to get her to sleep in the gorgeous pet bed Nasir bought for her. It was so nice _Duro_ almost wanted to sleep in it. She’d have none of it though, and Duro highly suspected that when he didn’t spend the night here, Moose slept on his pillow.

There weren’t any clicks or flashes which meant Auctus’ was hand-drawing it. 

“Charcoal or pencil?” Duro asked.

“Ballpoint pen. It was the closest thing and I didn’t want to disturb either one of you.”

Duro could smell the ink now that he concentrated. Puppy breath smell was overwhelming, along with their obvious need to change the sheets, but over all that was the ink. He could imagine what Auctus’ hands looked like now. 

“What color?” Duro asked.

“Blue,” Auctus said.

He’d have the half-spotted hands of a Smurf then. One day Auctus wouldn’t use the messiest mediums possible first thing in the morning and Duro’s brain would explode thanks to a complete paradigm shift. They were _still_ cleaning-up from the finger-painting incident last month.

“Can I move yet?”

“No,” Auctus said.

Duro chuckled. “You do know I have to open the store this morning, right?”

“You don’t,” Auctus said. “Agron called. Chadara couldn’t close, so you are. She took the opening shift instead.”

“Isn’t that so very fucking nice of them to do that without asking.”

“Because getting to work is such a long commute for you,” Auctus muttered.

The store was right next to Auctus’ building and true, Duro had no plans on going back to his apartment today. It was laundry day and the only clean clothes he had left were the ones here. It was the assumption that annoyed him. 

“Were you planning on returning to that death-trap you call a home tonight?”

“Not really,” he admitted. 

“Then stop tensing your shoulders and relax. At least your brother was courteous enough to let you sleep this time as opposed to coming over here with an air horn.”

Duro cracked a smile. Those were good times. Scared Archimedes so bad he squawked for three hours straight. Agron was still forbidden from setting foot inside the apartment. 

He titled his head up and opened his eyes when the bed dipped. Moose eagerly crawled off his back and into Auctus’ lap.

“I’m surprised she stayed still that long,” Duro said.

Auctus placed his sketch pad above Duro’s head. He dropped one hand in Duro’s curls and the other on top of Moose’s short fur. 

“I’ve trained you both well enough,” he said. “Moose and I have to do something when you’re not here.” 

Auctus didn’t press, didn’t ask again if Duro wanted to move in like he had a month before, but the feeling was implied. Duro had asked then for time to think. He wasn’t the fairy tale type, neither was Auctus to be fair, and it sometimes felt like things were going too damn fast. He just liked the security of having his own space. Part of it was fear, the gut-churning, just-in-case-this-all-goes-to-shit kind. Part of it was enjoying the shithole studio that was _his_. Not his-and-Agron’s. Not that first apartment ever that was his-and-Pietros’. Just his, his own little space that, granted, everyone had keys to and half the time he came home to find someone crashing in his bed who ate all his cereal. If real estate could be a security blanket, Duro’s home was it. 

He lifted the upper-half of his body, balancing on still-aching arms from unpacking stock yesterday, and laughed low and dirty when Auctus’ hand slid from his hair to his ass. 

“Too early,” he teased leaning in for a kiss.

“Never,” Auctus said before crushing their mouths together.

It was one thing he really loved about Auctus. He was a strong man who could be soft, could be gentle, but always knew when Duro needed something a bit tougher, just a touch of brutal. He knew just when and how to take Duro out of his own mind. 

A whining puppy, however, ruined all plans.

Duro pulled back. “Forgot to take her out on her walk, didn’t you?”

Auctus didn’t pout, so the look on his face wasn’t a pout, it was just really damn close. “I just got off the phone with Agron when she crawled on top of you.”

“Art before responsibilities,” Duro muttered as he slid out of bed.

Auctus leaned back, displaying his far too sculpted chest for anyone not made of marble, and shrugged. “If you wanted simple and responsible, you should have found a banker.”

Duro snorted. “I’ve dated a banker,” he said as he pulled on a pair of Auctus’ sweatpants. “It was about as far from simple as you could get.” 

His closest t-shirt, brown with orange writing proclaiming _Muggle_ , didn’t match the sweatpants. It did pass the sniff test though, and that was all that really mattered.

“You’re not even going to brush your teeth?” Auctus asked.

Duro threw a handful of Dentyne into his mouth. “See? You can be responsible when it calls for it. I’m taking Moose out to pee all over someone’s favorite shrubbery. It doesn’t require minty fresh breath or a washed face.”

“Your lack of hygiene worries me,” Auctus said.

Duro shook Moose’s leash and she ran over to him, paws slipping and scattering on the hardwood floor. 

“Your inability to eat a breakfast that isn’t deep-fried and usually take-out from the night before worries me, but I’m still here.” Duro said. He waited at the door while Moose practically danced at his feet. “Aren’t you coming?”

Auctus looked him up and down. “And be seen out in public with you? Dressed like that?” 

The words would have more meaning if Auctus wasn’t already pulling a shirt on and grinning. Duro knew he looked jacked-up with his flip-flips held together by staples and duct tape, clothes, and god-only-knew current hair situation. It didn’t help when standing next to Auctus who, even in a simple black t-shirt and jeans, always looked professional and cool. He just didn’t care because it was too early, Moose had to pee, and this way he could send Auctus into the store for coffee and donuts and not feel bad about his barely-covered morning breath and lack of fashion sense. 

Moose tried to wrap them all together with her leash while they waited for the elevator. 

“Hey,” he said. 

“Yeah?” Auctus asked.

“You know I love you, right?”

Auctus smiled, the lines around his eyes softening, and he leaned over to kiss Duro. He only wrinkled his nose a little at the taste and smell. It was okay, Duro knew that meant some deep devotion on Auctus’ part.

“Love you too,” he said. He rested his hand on Duro’s hip. “Even if your mouth tastes like how a diaper smells right now.”

“I take it back,” Duro said when they entered the elevator. He leaned his head on Auctus’ shoulder. “I’m leaving you for Gannicus.”

Auctus’ grip on his hip suddenly tightened. “You’d be dead from neglect and alcohol poisoning within a week.” 

Moose yipped in agreement. 

“See, you’re upsetting the baby,” Auctus said.

Duro groaned into the skin of Auctus’ neck. “You did not just fucking say that.”

Auctus’ laughter filled the elevator all the way down.


End file.
